Police scandal leads to reduced charges

NEW HAVEN -- A Madison man has avoided prison in a drunk driving death because a town police officer who investigated the case was recently fired in a scandal.

Neal Gobrogge hosted a party last year after which 19-year-old Kirsten Meyer was killed in a crash caused by drunken driving.

Gobrogge faced three years in prison if he had been convicted of the original charges of delivery of alcohol to a minor, permitting a minor to possess alcohol in a dwelling and second-degree reckless endangerment.

The state offered the 23-year-old lesser charges because former Madison police Officer Matthew Sterling, who arrested Gobrogge, was fired amid scandal in January.